The actor Donald Sutherland in the early 1980s, long before there was an Internet to stream baseball or the widespread idea that there should be an Internet streaming baseball broadcasts or even cheap long distance telephone rates, paid international long distance rates to listen to as nab les Expos games as he could on the telephone while his career took him far away from his Canadian home (according to a 1980s magazine interview). There were Canadians who loved the Expos.

When I driving through Canada a few years ago, I saw baseball fields all over the place, a heck of a lot more than I saw in the northern U.S. Baseball is not a foreign sport in Canada.

It's a shame what happened to baseball in Montreal.

WhiteSox5187

01-13-2011, 04:16 AM

Really the '94 strike killed the Expos. That team was going to make the playoffs and probably would have won the pennant that year which would have gotten them a new stadium. They also had the misfortune of having some great teams in the 1980s but being just a bit behind some equally great Phillie teams and then later in the decade the Mets were the team to beat and they were great. 1994 really killed the team but Loiria did everything he could to kill that team and then MLB helped kill the team when Selig decided that the Expos couldn't expand their rosters to 40 men in 2003 while the Expos were in the midst of a pennant race. It's too bad as Montreal has proven they can support a team that was good, unlike say St. Petersburg.

LITTLE NELL

01-13-2011, 07:23 AM

I don't know if anyone is paying attention but the Blue Jays are not exactly packing them in anymore at the Rogers Centre. They were 26th in attendance averaging a little over 20,000 a game. They could be the next franchise in trouble and a possible relocation. Hockey is the National Pastime in Canada and I for one do not want to see another team in Montreal.

TomBradley72

01-13-2011, 10:10 AM

Really the '94 strike killed the Expos. That team was going to make the playoffs and probably would have won the pennant that year which would have gotten them a new stadium. They also had the misfortune of having some great teams in the 1980s but being just a bit behind some equally great Phillie teams and then later in the decade the Mets were the team to beat and they were great. 1994 really killed the team but Loiria did everything he could to kill that team and then MLB helped kill the team when Selig decided that the Expos couldn't expand their rosters to 40 men in 2003 while the Expos were in the midst of a pennant race. It's too bad as Montreal has proven they can support a team that was good, unlike say St. Petersburg.

+1

There was a great documentary on either ESPN or HBO within the last few years about the love affair between Montreal and baseball that ended with the 1994 strike. It was a long history- going back to the days with Jackie Robinson,then Jarry Park with the Expos and finally the fans (over 2 million) who poured into Olympic Stadium for the team in the early to mid-90's They never forgave the strike- which led to public support for a new stadium evaporating.

TomBradley72

01-13-2011, 10:13 AM

I don't know if anyone is paying attention but the Blue Jays are not exactly packing them in anymore at the Rogers Centre. They were 26th in attendance averaging a little over 20,000 a game. They could be the next franchise in trouble and a possible relocation. Hockey is the National Pastime in Canada and I for one do not want to see another team in Montreal.

By that standard there are alot of U.S. teams that should be relocated before Toronto-lousy stadium (from my visit last season, one of the worst in baseball- only Oakland and Tampa Bay would be worse)+ mediocre teams = low attendance.

Fenway

01-13-2011, 10:38 AM

+1

There was a great documentary on either ESPN or HBO within the last few years about the love affair between Montreal and baseball that ended with the 1994 strike. It was a long history- going back to the days with Jackie Robinson,then Jarry Park with the Expos and finally the fans (over 2 million) who poured into Olympic Stadium for the team in the early to mid-90's They never forgave the strike- which led to public support for a new stadium evaporating.

It is what happened AFTER the strike that was the fatal blow as Claude Brouchu had the firesale and the final straw was the 'trade' of Pedro to Boston for 2 bags of balls.

The demise started when Charles Bronfman sold the team to Brouchu in 1990 as he was under pressure because his nephew was destroying the family fortune which came from Seagrams. He tried to buy the team back from MLB and Selig said no.

Brouchu was the first owner to cash in on revenue sharing.

Selig at the suggestion of George Steinbrenner sent Loria to Montreal and made the situation worse.

Bronfman says he will work until the day he dies to get MLB back.

The Jays situation seems to be fans have tired of Skydome after 21 years.

Even at the bitter end the Expos had 5 times as many TV viewers on RDS than the Nationals have today.

ewokpelts

01-13-2011, 11:03 AM

wasnt pedro AND varitek shipped off to boston?

Fenway

01-13-2011, 11:14 AM

wasnt pedro AND varitek shipped off to boston?

No - we got Tek AND Derek Lowe from Seattle for Heathcliff Slocomb :rolling:

gogosox675

01-13-2011, 12:21 PM

It really is too bad what happened in Montreal. I remember that 2003 Expos team and wanting them to win the wild card badly. I thought Washington deserved to have a team but it was wrong that the Expos had to essentially be killed off for Washington to get a team.

LITTLE NELL

01-13-2011, 12:29 PM

It really is too bad what happened in Montreal. I remember that 2003 Expos team and wanting them to win the wild card badly. I thought Washington deserved to have a team but it was wrong that the Expos had to essentially be killed off for Washington to get a team.

I don't agree that Washington deserved a team, DC failed with 2 teams, the original Senators who are now the Twins and the 1961 expansion Senators who are now the Rangers.

PKalltheway

01-14-2011, 12:12 AM

I don't agree that Washington deserved a team, DC failed with 2 teams, the original Senators who are now the Twins and the 1961 expansion Senators who are now the Rangers.
I think DC's lousy support of baseball in those days can be attributed to lousy teams being on the field, and honestly, not much has changed. DC hasn't seen postseason baseball since 1933, and even when you take away the 34 years baseball wasn't there, you still have 44 years without postseason baseball. Winning puts people in the seats, and if the Nationals were to field a winner, I think DC will definitely support them.